View Full Version : Report: ESPN’s “entrenched locker room culture” has led to hostile treatment of women


TMC
12-14-2017, 09:17 PM
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2017/12/14/women-who-worked-espn-say-its-problems-far-beyond-barstool-sports/L1v9HJIvtnHuBPiMru6yGM/story.html

The Boston Globe describes a male-oriented culture at the Disney-owned sports network “where men have made unwanted sexual propositions to female colleagues, given unsolicited shoulder rubs, and openly rated women on their looks, and, in at least one case, sent shirtless selfies, according to interviews with roughly two dozen current and former employees (http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/john-buccigross-matthew-berry-sexual-harassment.html).” The Globe further reports that “some women said that the environment at ESPN can be so hostile — and plum positions for female sports journalists so precarious — that they hid pregnancies and felt pressured to take short maternity leaves in order to protect their positions. One anchor even did her scheduled broadcast while she was having a miscarriage to prove her commitment to her job, according to former employees.”

UPDATE: ESPN responds (https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/941442690159345671): "We work hard to maintain a respectful and inclusive culture at ESPN. It is always a work in progress, but we're proud of the significant progress we've made in developing and placing women in key roles at the company in the board room, in leadership positions throughout ESPN and on air."

TMC
12-16-2017, 02:35 AM
Why it matters that a former ESPN-er filed a discrimination complaint alleging sexual harassment (https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/12/15/adrienne-lawrence-john-buccigross-text-messages-espn-sexual-harassment-pregnancy-discrimination)
As Sports Illustrated explains, former ESPN fellow Adrienne Lawrence’s filing of a discrimination complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities against ESPN and anchor John Buccigross (http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/boston-globe-publishes-full-texts-john-buccigross-adrienne-lawrence-espn-omits-notable-sections.html) “means that she swore under oath as to her claims against ESPN. This is an important distinction from a person who only raises assertions during a media interview. A person who swears under oath does under penalty of perjury. If he or she knowingly lies, they can be charged with the felony crime of perjury. A sworn statement by no means guarantees the veracity of the allegations—a complainant often recalls the past in an unintentionally distortive or inaccurate way; perjury is also a difficult crime to prosecute since the prosecutor must prove that a defendant knowingly lied. Nonetheless, such a statement lends some degree of credibility to the complainant’s assertions.”